New Year’s Day Snowshoe and Cookout!

A couple of weeks ago I shared a chickpea curry recipe and noted that it inspired an idea to have a cookout.

So with that in mind, a plan for our annual New Year’s Day adventure and cookout was on the rise! I have been interested in checking out the Limberlost Forest and Wildlife Reserve (LFWR) since moving to Muskoka earlier in 2016. The forest reserve is located northeast of Huntsville and borders the J. Albert Bauer Provincial Park. LFWR is private land and a year-round wilderness haven with 20 private lakes and more than 10,000 acres of mixed forest.

You turn onto Muskoka Road 8/Limberlost Road from Highway 60 and look for the LFWR sign on the right. It’s about 10 kms up the road.

Where in the world is Limberlost Forest and Wildlife Reserve?Turn right when you see this sign!

When you turn right onto South Limberlost Road, drive for a few kilometres until you reach the Check-in Booth.

Lots of kms of ski and snowshoeing trails!

Inside the Check-in Booth, you have to fill out a waiver and place a sign in your car window acknowledging you’re a day visitor. Pretty easy since the use of trails are FREE.

We started from the parking lot and snowshoed the Clear Lake/Turtle Lake trail. I think it was probably around 8kms or less. It took us 2.5 hours to complete, plus we stopped for a cookout.

Our route is in pink

It was a perfect day to adventure! A mix of sun and cloud, and our sun that I hadn’t seen for days! It was nice to get out with my husband and Banjo to celebrate the beginning of a new year.

Most trail signs are on pieces of wood with black marker, or carved signs.Starting out around Clear Lake

It’s nice that my husband now has something to slow him down on the trails! He took a GPS and Wilderness Navigation course through Fleming College early in 2016 to help him paddle Algonquin Outfitter’s Muskoka River X race (longest single-day paddling race in the world). I’m usually lagging behind because I’m making photographs. Now he stops to plot marks, make notes on the GPS or tinker with his compass.

Making a note of our location on the GPS where we saw fox tracksCompassing or navigating. What’s the diff?Staying hydrated

The Clear Lake section of the trail was quite busy, but once we started on the Turtle Lake section, we were the first to make tracks (aside from wildlife) and we could hear and see chickadees following us through the forest.

The elusive photographer!

We stopped on the other side of Turtle Lake for our cookout. I made chickpea curry earlier in the morning, so we just had to heat it up.

Mmm…. chickpea curry!I will post this recipe one day. I usually dehydrate it for canoe trips.

Back on the trail to snowshoe around Turtle Lake.

Action shot!That’s a big tree!

It was a beauty day to be outside and what a great way to start the new year! We can’t wait to go back to the LFWR for more adventuring. There’s SO MUCH SNOW up here, so if you can get time off to go skiing or snowshoeing, I’d love to recommend some places for you to explore.

Thanks for reading and happy new year to you! It’s not about how many trips we take or how many nights we spend outside, it’s about getting outside when we can to recharge our mind and soul. We know that nature has many abilities in that way!

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